Alarm mechanism.



-R. Bl WILCOX.

ALARM MECHANISM.

APPLICATION mm JULY 6. 1914.

1,166,958, Patented Jan. 4, 191.6.

4 SHEETSSHEET I.

V L y I I Elmo/win R0 BERT Fr)- WILCOX aha-mom R. B. WILCOX. ALARMMECHANISM.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 6, I914.

. 1,166,958. Patented Jan. 4, 1916.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

R. B. wlLcox.

. ALARM MECHANISM.

APPLICATION man JULY 6. 1914.

Patented, Jan. 4, 1916.

R. B WILCOX.

ALARM MECHANISM.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 6. 1914.

Patented Jan. 4, 1916.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 4.

I mam nncn'amsm.

' Specification of Letters Patenti *smns OFFICE; I

noun 3. wrncoi, or nononnnm rnnmonror- Hawaii.

' Patented'Jan'.4,1916.

Application flledluly 6, 1914. Serlal'No. 849,258

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, Ronnn'r B. WILCOX, acitizen of the United States, residing at Honolulu, in the Territory ofHawaii, ave invented certain new and useful Improvements in AlarmMechanisms, of which the following is a specification, reference beinghad to the accompanying drawings.

This invention relates to an improved alarm mechanism, and has for itsprimary object to provide means whereby the operator of a motor cycle,automobile, or other.

tive without first completely stopping the machine and descending fromhis seat.

The invention further contemplates the pro-vision of a pair of semaphorearms which are automatically moved to a visible position to indicate tothe traflic ofiicers that the mechanism is properly set for operation,or that the same is in an inoperative condition and will not give thenecessary warn- 1n lhe invention has for a further object to provide inaddition to the semaphore arms, above referred to, a night signalconsisting of a movable colored lens automatically actuated when themechanism is .placed" in operative condition and disposed between anuncolored lens mounted in the case wall and a lamp or torch arranged inthe casing.

The invention has for an additional object to provide an alarm device ofthe above character which is comparatively simple and inexpensive in itsconstruction, eflicient and reliable in operation and highly serviceableand convenient in practical use.

With the above and other objects in view, the invention consists innovel features of construction, combination, and arrangement of parts aswill be hereinafter referred to and more particularly pointed out in thespecification and claims. a

.For a full understanding of the invention, reference is to be had tothe following description and accompanying drawings, in

.which- 7 F1 ure is a side elevation of the forwar port1on-of anautomobile showing my improved alarm device applied thereto; Fig. 2 1s afront elevation; Fig. 3 isv an enlarged side elevation, parts of thecasing being a broken away and other parts shown in section; Fig. 4 isan enlarged detail vertical section showing the operative condition ofthe alarm proper; Fig.- 5 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view,illustrating in a second position certain of the parts as disclosed inFig. 3; Fig. 6 is a section taken on the line 66 of Fig. 3; Fig. 7 is anenlarged detail section illustrating the mounting clutch rod.

of the lower end of the sliding Referring in detail to the drawings, 5 I

designates an automobile to which I have shown my invention applied. IIt will, however, be obvious that the device may be also employed uponmotor cycles and various ;other motor vehicles.

The mechanism of the alarm device to be hereinafter described is mountedwithin a sheet metal casing 6 "which is suitably secured upon a suitablebracket 7 mounted upon one side of the radiator or hood of the machineat its forward end as clearly shown in Figs. 1 and 2 of the drawings.Any other suitable support for the device may, however, be provided.-The casing 6 is formed with a horizontal partition 8 which divides theinterior of the easing into upper and lower compartments 9 and 10respectively. The rear wall of the upper compartment 9 is formed with anexternal pocket or recess 11 for a purpose to be hereinafter referredto. In each of the side walls of the compartment 9 contiguous to itsforward end a white uncolored lens indicated at 12 is suitably mountedand secured. A lamp or torch 13 is arranged in said compartment upon thepartition wall 8 between these lenses.

The forward end wall of the compartment 9 is provided with an openingwhich is adapted to be closed by a vertical sliding door 14 wherebyaccess may be had to the compartment 9 for the purpose of removing saidlamp and replenishin the supply of coal-oil or other liquid fue To theunder side of the horizontal partitionwall 8 adj acent its forward end abearing plate 15 is 19 bearing socket to reccive thefupper .end ofavertical shaft 16. Thelower portion of thlsi shaft is'hollow orlongitudinally bored gasat 1.7, and in said bore-a1 .rod'18 is loosely;arran ed for vertical movement. The lower v end v I formed u on thebearing member 19 which to the bottom wall of the lower compartment 10.A second bearing'21 is secured, said plate: being priivided with 'a theshaft 16 is journaled in an arm 20' issecure also secured upon saidbottom wall'and in mthese alined bearings a shaft 22 is rotaed and thisgear is .enga ed by a bevel pin 1 tably mounted. Upon one end of thisshaft a bevel ear 23 is fixed for meshing engage-- ment with the bevelpinion 24 secured. to the lower end of the vertical shaft 16. Upon the.shaft 22 a'bevel gear 25 isloosely mount.

'ion 26 journaled 'in'rthe ottom wall of the casing. One end of aflexible shaft 27 is connected to the pinion 26, and the other end ofthis shaft is equipped with a gear pin ion 28 which meshes with a coggear'wheel 29 secured to one of the forward wheels of the automobile orother machine The shaft 22 is formed with an enlarged portion 30 uponwhich the, sliding clutch collar 31 is splined or keyed. This clutchcollar 'moves'withina tubular extension or sleeve I 32 formed integralwith the bevel gear 25 y Y and at theinner end of this sleeve clutchteeth are provided on .the gear for engagement by complementaryclutchteeth formed l on the endv face of thecollar 31 as will be readilyunderstood. The particular actuat I .ing means for this sliding collarwherebf'y the ear 25 may be connected with the sha t 22 forth in detail.

' To the bearing plate 15 a bell bowl 33 is detachably connected, saidbowl being dis-- posed in concentricrelation-to the shaft 16;

Upon said shaft and within the bowl 33 an inverted clutch disk 34 isfixed. 35 designates a similar clutch disk loosely mounted upon theshaft 16 below the disk' 34 and supported bye collar 36.. 'Atransversely disposed pin 37 is secured at its ends-in opposite sides.of said collar and extends through longitudinal slots 38 provided. in

the upper end' of the hollow portion 17 of the shaft 16. A second collar39 is fixed upon the shaft 16 below the collar-.36 and? to oppositesides of said collar the upperends of the opposed arms 40 of acentrifugalgovs ernor are pivotally conneoted. A sliding collar 41 isloosely engaged upon the lower end of the shaft 16 above the bearing arm20 and a transverse pin, 42 is secured at its op positeends in saidcollarand extends through longitudinal slots 43in the tubularportion-..of the..-shaft, said pin-being fixed in" the lower end'of therod 18. '.lhis latter collar is connected to the governor arms 4 bymeans of the link rods or rotation therewith will be later set.

ieaeee .45 balls on the outer ends of the governor arms. To diametrically opposite sides of the clutch disk 35 which is loosely ,jmbunted onthe shaft 16 the bell haersjfifiare pivotally attached. lltwillbeapparent from this description that'whenthe gear 25 is locked upon theshaft 221andf said shaft positively driven, rotation is transmittedto'the vertical shaft 16. The; governor rotates with said shaft and.when a predetermined speed has been acquired,'the weightedends of thegovernor arms move'outwardly b centrifugal force and the lower collar 41is drawn upwardly, thereby also moving the rod 18 upwardly in thejhollowportionofthe shaft'16 throu h the-medium of 'the'pin connection 42. stheupper end of this red is connected to the collar 36 by vineansbfthe'pin 37, it will be 'obv'iousjthatthe clutch disk 35 is therebyforcedmp'wardl into frictional engagement with the fixed c utch .disk'34 on the shaft 16.

fi'lhe disk 35- is thus. rotated and the bell hammers 46 are thrownoutwardly by cenof the rod 50a le'verL52 is secured, said leverbeingconnected at its other end to a link I 53 which in turn is. looselyconnected to the .lower end of a rod or bar 54. Upon a stud pin 55'fixed in one of the sidewalls of the compartment 10 andprojectinginwardly therefrom a compound lever is loosely mounted. Onearm '56 ofthis lever is con-' nected' to thejlower end :of the bar 54.lln the other arm 56' thereof a fpin .57 is loosely mounted. -'llhis pinextends through an arcuateslot 58 formed in one of the side walls '1 /ofthe compartment 10 A head 59 formed on the outer] end .of'said pin .isprovided with a reduced cylindrical portion .59 for engagement inone ofthe enlarged ends 58 of the1s1ot58', whereby. the compound lever islocked against movement. The; pin is yieldably held in. such lockingposition by means of a coil-spring60 which is arranged upon the innerend-of said pin between the lever, rm and a collar uponthe pin.

r z The upper end; of the bar 54' extends througha short longitudinalslot 62 in the or sleeve 61 arranged partition wall 8 of the casing, andis conend of whi h i fixed pon a rock shaft 64 nected to one end of anarm 63, the other upper omp'artmenti-9 of the casing. Lens frames 66amsecured upon the rod 64' adjacent its ends, and each of I these framescarries a colored lens 67 which is adapted for movement over thecorrespondin uncolored' len's 12'in oneof the side ."The' bracket platehaving spaced cars 68 is arranged in the pocket or recess ll-and securedto the rear wall of the compartment 9.. A in 69 is secured in said earsand upon the p n the ta ring blades 70 are loosely mounted. Ea'c ofthese blades is provided upon its smaller end with an angular arm orextension 71. To said angular arms of the respective-blades the wires orcabllef1 72 ese' are attached at one of their ends. cables extendthrough an opening 73 provided in' the Wall of the casing 6 and "overguide pulleys 7 4 which are suitably mounted upon the inner face of saidwall. From the pulley 74 one of thecable's extends downwardlyandlaround' a second pulley 75" mounted uponthe' partition wall 8.Theother ends of said'cables are attached to an arm 76 whi ."i shaft 64.

' As shown accompanying draw-' ings, the clutch collar 31 is out oflocking engagement with the gear 35 so that the mechanism isinoperative. blades 70 is painted white while the other blade is paintedred, and it will be 'observed right and into locking engagement with thethat the arms 71 of theblades project upon relatively opposite sides ofthe pin-69 upon which said blades are mounted. When the device is not inoperative condition, the white blade extends upwardly from the pocket 11above the. casing 6, while the red blade extends downwardly into saidpocket and is invisible. When it is desired to render the mechanismoperative to give an alarm, the operator shifts the knob or button 59 onthe arm 56 of the compound lever in the arcuate slot-58 to the left ,ofits full line position shown in Fig. 3. In this move ment of said lever,it-will be obvious that --the"bar 54 is forced upwardly through the gear25. Thus. the shaft 22 will be positively driven through the medium ofthe flexible shaft 21 geared to one of the wheels of the machine, andthe vertical shaft 16 rotated. The button 59. must, of course, be pulledoutwardly againstthe action of the spring 60 inorder to move the same inthe s fixed upon the rock:

One of the I end .of' the slot to is forced upwardly, as aboveexplained,the.

the arm 63 to which said bar is connected and the arm 76 on said shaftmoved to the position shown in dotted lines in Fig. 3. In

" such movement of the arm, the white blade shaft 64 is rocked throughthe medium of walls 0 the casing. The arm 63 to which' i the upperend-of the bar 54 is connected is 1 referably formed integral with oneof the liens frames 66. 4

70 falls downwardly by gravity into the pocket 11, one of the cables 72being drawn outwardly through the o ening: 73 in the casing wall. Theother o the cables which extends around the pulley 75 is pulled-upwardlyby the arm 76, and-the red blade'to which said latter. cable isconnected is raised out of the pocket so that it will extend above thecasing 6 to a visible position, thus indicating that the alarm mechanismis in operative condition. When the speed of the machine has attained apredetermined limit, the governor arms act to shift the sliding clutchmember 35 as above explained, whereby thealarm is sounded.

It will be apparent that as the device is arranged .upon the forward endof the ma chine body, the operator can not obtain access to the samefrom his seat, and it is therefore imperative that he stop the car anddescend 1n order to change the mechanism from its operative to-itsinoperative condition and reverse the positions of the blades 7 tolndlcate an open or unlimited speed, or vice versa, &SC1I0l1mSl3anCeSmay require.

In the comparatively congested districts of I a city where thetrafiic'isheavy, certain m1;- nicipal ordinances have been promulgatedto limit the speed of travel ofsuch vehicles, and the traffic ofiicersby simply observing the blade 70 and noting its color may atonce-determine whether or not the mechanism is in condition foroperation. The alarm bell serves as a warning to the driver as well .asa notification to the oflicers that the machine is traveling .at anunlawful speed.

/ The rear end of the lower compartment 10 of the casing is closed bymeans ofa hinged door 77 whereby access may be had to said a compartmentfor the adjustment of the governor collar to various positions. Thisdoor is securely. fastened by. means of a hasp 78 and a staple 79 on thedoor, the latter receiving a pad-lock or other suitable locking means.The top wall of the casing 6 is also preferably provided with an outletflue 80- arranged immediately above the lamp or torch 13 through whichthe smoke and fumes from the lamp areexhausted to the atmosphere.Simultaneously with the operation of the blades 70 in the manner aboveexp1ained,th.e lens car y g frames 66 secured upon the rod 64: are movedto dispose .the'

colored lenses therein opposite to the lenses 12 and between the sameand the lamp 13, in order to give a clearvisual night signal of thecondition of the mechanism. When the device is not in condition foroperation, said lenses 67 are positioned at one side of the lenses 12 asshown in Fig. 3 of the drawings. I w a From the. foregoingdescription'taken in connection with the accompanying rawings, theconstruction, manner of operation, and several advantages of myinvention will f be clearly and fully understood.

1.5 ..The device afiords a reliable means for warning the operator. ofthe machinewhen' he is operating the machine at an excessive speed, andalso serves to eliminate any possible controversies between the driverand thef trafiic ofi'icer as to'the speed of travel.

"It will therefore be appreciated that the driver may relieve himself ofconsiderable annoyance as well as possibihty of pecuniary loss.

My improved alarm machanism'is com: paratively simple in itsconstruction, highly eflicient and reliable in practical use and 'may beproduced at small manufacturing cost. a

WhileI. have above described the preferred form, construction, andarrangement of the several elements employed, it will be understood thatthe device is,'neverthe1ess,

susceptible of considerable modification;

therein, and I therefore reserve the privilege of resortin to all suchlegitimate changes I I. as may be airly embodiedwithin the spiritv andscope of the invention as claimed.

What is claimed is:

The combination with of an alarm mechanism having a housing amountedupon. the body of the vehicle remote from the drivers seat, visualsignaling means mounted .on said housing, operat- 5 ing means forsaidmechanism, and manually operable means arranged within thehousing'for coiiperatively connecting said operating means with thealarm mechanism and simultaneously actuating said signaling '5 means.

2. The combination with a motorvehicle, of an alarm mechanism andhousing therefor mounted 'upon the'vehicle body remote from the driversseat, operating means for said alarm mechanism, manually operable meansmounted within the housing to estab i'aeaeee 3. An alarm mechanism andhousing therefor, operating means for saidimechanism, a shift-ableelement mounted within the housing to establish or destroy the drivingconnection between the operating means and thealarm mechanism, visualsignaling means mounted on the, housing, manually operable means foractuating said shiftable element, and mechanical connections between thesignaling means-andsaid manually operable means whereby the signal isactuated simultaneously with said shiftable element to indicate theexistence or nonexistence of a driving connection between the operatingmeans and the alarm mechanlsm.

- 4. In an alarm device for vehicles, an

alarm mechanism including a shaft, a bell bowl arranged in concentricrelation to said shaft, a clutch disk fixed upon the shaft,a secondclutch disk longitudinally shiftable upon said shaft and provided withbell hammers to engage said bowl, a governor on said shaft including asliding collar, means geared to one of the vehicle Wheels to rotate saidshaft, and means connected to said collar to actuate the shiftableclutch,disk and engage the same with the fixed disk for retation withthe shaft whereby the alarm is sounded when the vehicle attains apredetermined speed.

5. In an alarm device. for vehicles, an alarm mechanism including ashaft having a hollow portion, an alarm device proper comprising avshiftable element mounted upon' said shaft and provided with means forsoundingthe alarm acentrifugal governor mounted upon said shaft andincluding a sliding collar, means geared to one of the a motor vehicle,

vehicle wheels for rotating said shaft, and means operating in thehollow portion of the shaft and connected to said sliding collar toactuate the shiftable member and sound the alarm when the vehicleattains a predetermined speed.

6. In an alarm device of the character described, 'an alarm mechanismincluding a shaft, a shiftableelement mounted upon said shaft andprovided with an alarm sounding means, a centrifugal governor mountedupon the shaft and having a sliding collar, means for rotating saidshaft geared to one of the vehicle wheels, and a rod connected to saidcollar and movable longitudinally of the shaft to shift said element andsound the alarm when the vehicle attains a predetermined speed.

7. In an alarm device for vehicles, an alarm mechanism including a bellbowl, :1

rotary clutch d-isk,,means geared to one of shaft and provided disk intolocked engagement with the rotary disk when the vehicle attains apredetermined speed whereby the alarm is sounded.

8. In an alarm, device for vehicles, an alarm mechanism including ahollow shaft, a bell bowl, a clutch disk fixed upon said shaft, ashiftable clutch disk mounted on the with alarm sounding means forengagement with said bowl, a centrifugal governor on said shaft having.a slidably mounted collar, a rod longitudinally movable within theshaft and connect ed to said collar at one of its ends, means geared toone of the vehicle wheels for operating said shaft, and means connectedto the other end of said rod to actuate the shiftable disk and engagethe same with the fixed clutch disk when the vehicle attains apredetermined speed to rotate the shiftable disk P I and sound thealarm.

9. In an alarm device for vehicles, an

alarm mechanism including a hollow shaft,

a 'bell bowl, a clutch disk fixed upon said shaft, a shiftable clutchdisk mounted on the shaft and provided with alarm sounding means forengagement with said bowl, a centrifugal governor on said shaft having aslidably mounted collar, a rod longitudinally movable within the shaftand connected to said collar at one of its ends, means geared to one ofthe vehicle w heels for operating said shaft, and means connected to theother end of said rod to actuate the shiftable disk and engage the samewith the fixed clutch disk when the vehicle attains a predeterminedspeed to rotate the'shiftable disk and sound the alarm.

In testimony whereof I hereunto affix my signature in the presence oftwo witnesses. ROBERT E. WILOOX.

- Witnesses:

HARRIET G. FORBES, HARRY HALPEN.

